http://www.enotes.com/america-pathways-present-text/chapter-5reconstruction-1865-1877 (great site for overview)
Standard 8-4
The student will demonstrate an
understanding of the impact of
Reconstruction on the people and
government of South Carolina.
8-4.1
• Explain the purposes of Reconstruction
with attention to the economic, social,
political, and geographic problems facing
the South, including reconstruction of
towns, factories, farms, and transportation
systems; the effects of emancipation;
racial tension; tension between social
classes; and disagreement over voting
rights.
Reconstruction Policies
• Federal Government = National Government
• The purpose of their policies were:
– Social
– Political
NOT ECONOMIC
They impacted society in SC after the Civil War.
President Lincoln’s Plan for
Reconstruction
• To end the war as quickly as possible.
• It was written before the end of the
fighting.
• Only 10% of SC’s population had to swear
allegiance to the UNION.
• Then they could be represented in
Congress.
• Lincoln hoped this would convince SC to
surrender.
Lincoln’s Purpose
• Political – to restore the southern states into full
political union with the other states.
• Social – Southern states had to recognize the
end of slavery.
• Economic – State governments would be
responsible for reconstructing towns, factories,
farms, and transportation systems – NOT the
Federal government. They had no money so
these needs were not addressed.
Lincoln’s Assassination
• Did NOT change the Reconstruction plan.
• President Johnson continued Lincoln’s 10%
policy.
• He added that the southern elite (rich white
people) had to each request a pardon of the
president to embarrass them.
• He also made them ratify the 13th amendment
that freed the slaves.
Congress’s Reconstruction Plan
1. To protect the rights of the newly freed
slaves (freedmen).
2. To protect the Republican’s political
power.
SC hated this plan so……….
When congress was not in session
SC legislature:
1. Passed “Black Codes”
2. Elected former Confederates to
Congress.
Black Codes
http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/blackcodes/a/blackcodes1865.htm
Black Codes
• Made it clear that white South Carolinians
were NOT going to recognize the social
and political rights of the newly freed
slaves.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/andrewjohnson/
President Johnson
• Was against the 14th amendment
• Johnson vetoed the Freedman’s Bureau
bill
These two things greatly changed the
course of Reconstruction policy.
Congress – “Radical Republicans”
In an effort to protect the right of freedmen,
they refused to admit returning Southern
officials to Congress.
Violence in the South against African
Americans and President Johnson actions
paved the way for the so-called “Radical
Republicans” to win control of congress in
1866.
“Radical Republicans” 1866
Reconstruction plan
• This plan called for military occupation of
the former Confederacy.
• The south was split into five military
districts.
• SC was in the second military district.
5 Military Districts
• Each district had a military governor.
• The army was used to enforce its laws.
• Congress impeached Johnson to make
sure that as commander in chief he could
not undermine its efforts.
President Johnson
• He was not removed from office after the
impeachment.
• His power was greatly reduced.
• The Union army tried to enforce the
Reconstruction policy and the 13th, 14th
and 15th amendments.
3 Reconstruction Amendments
• The Reconstruction Amendments are the Thirteenth, Fourteenth,
and Fifteenth amendments to the United States Constitution,
adopted between 1865 and 1870, the five years immediately
following the Civil War. This group of Amendments is sometimes
referred to as the "Civil War Amendments".
• The Amendments were intended to restructure the United States
from a country that was (in Abraham Lincoln's words) "half slave and
half free" to one in which the constitutionally guaranteed "blessings
of liberty" would be extended to the entire populace, including the
former slaves and their descendants.
• The Thirteenth Amendment (both proposed and ratified in 1865)
abolished slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment (proposed in 1866
and ratified in 1868) included the Privileges or Immunities Clause,
Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. The Fifteenth
Amendment, (proposed in 1869 and ratified in 1870) grants voting
rights regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude".
13th Amendment
Section “1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject
to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have the power to
enfoce this article by appropriate legislation.”
• Southern states had to agree to this amendment
before they could form new governments.
• It freed slaves throughout the United States.
• Brought major social change for the southern
African Americans.
Freedmen
• Worked to consolidate their families and
communities.
• Established a network of churches.
• Claimed equal citizenship.
• Got educations.
• Worked for independence in their lives.
The White Population
• At first little changed for them.
• Social classes remained fairly stable even
though they had lost all of their money.
• They resented the actions of African
Americans.
• They also were afraid their former slaves
would attack them.
Racial tensions escalated (became
worse).
Social Changes for African
Americans
• They left the white churches for
congregations of their own.
• They moved from the slave quarters to
plots away from the Big House.
• They established their own communities.
This separation and white loss of control
caused anxiety among whites to
escalate.
Racial Tension
• Terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan
formed.
• The white population was determined to
keep the African American population in
“its place” socially, politically, and
economically.
14th Amendment
• Was designed to protect freedman from
intimidation from groups like the KKK.
• Overturned the Dred Scott decision
(made citizenship of AA’s legal)
• All citizens would get “equal protection”
and “due process” of laws.
• 2/3 of Congress must vote yes to allow exConfederates to hold office.
15th Amendment
• Ensured that the “Right to Vote” of ALL
male citizens, in the North as well as in the
South, would not be denied based on
“race, creed or previous condition of
servitude.”
South Carolina
• Refused to ratify the 14th and 15th
amendments.
As a result of Congressional Reconstruction,
the military governor of Military District 2
required SC to hold a convention to write a
new state constitution (8-4.3). However,
whites boycotted the election of delegates
to the constitutional convention.
Economic Impact of Reconstruction
• Did very little to help the south.
• The economy continued to rest on
Agriculture and Cotton but with no slaves it
depended on sharecropping.
• The national government did not rebuild
the war-torn region.
The South remained in a state of
economic depression well into the
20th century (1900 – 1999).
Assessments
• Students will explain the purposes of
Reconstruction policy.
• Students will compare the purposes of
presidential and congressional plans for
Reconstruction.
• Students will identify examples of how
Reconstruction policy met the social, political,
economic and geographic problems that faced
SC at the end of the Civil War.
• Summarize how emancipation led to racial
tension and tension between classes over social
equality and voting rights.